Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

sometimes you just want to be in a low-fi band with your sister, but a literal battle between immortality and death gets in the way

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

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Absolutely perfect. No one can harness both the magic and ennui of being a teenager like Kelly Link. People will be handing this down to younger siblings for generations. Susannah and Laura are sisters. They are also band mates. The third member of their band, Daniel is their best friend and next-door neighbor. Oh, and Susannah’s friend-with-benefits. On the night of Daniel’s birthday, at a wild dive bar with a real carousel on stage, something happens: Susannah kisses Laura’s crush. Laura kisses Daniel. Susannah’s best […]

I Disliked This Enough To Not Even Come Up With A Pithy Title

Stars, Hide Your Fire by Kel McDonald and Jose Pimienta

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The best I can say here is that this is perfectly inoffensive teen fantasy. I didn’t hate it but neither will I remember much about it in a few months. It was fine as a palate cleanser book. This YA-aimed graphic novel follows Andrea and Darra, who are high school freshmen feeling trapped in their small town. Apparently that town is in Massachusetts, but I had to check the back of the book because nothing I read made me realize it was set there — […]

But I miss those hills with the windy pines

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This was the June pick for Sword and Laser book club and I only picked it up because of that. I had some strong reservations about the book when I first looked at it a year or so ago and decided not to read it because of that. However, book clubs don’t always pick books that you want to read and I thought I’d give it a try. Unfortunately, the book did not alleviate those reservations. I don’t know, maybe I’m just super grumpy because […]

I’m so tired of being alone/These penitent walls are all I’ve known

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Upon his death, Astrid Lethewood’s father, Albert, left her a house she never knew he owned.  She, like everybody else, thought he was the town wastrel, spending his wife’s money on booze and things from junk shops.  Still, Astrid loved her father and wants to build a home, a family, in this house he left her.  First her step-brother Jacks moves in, running away from the expectations of his father, the town fire chief.  Then Astrid’s oldest friend Sahara calls, saying that her boyfriend cheated […]

Objectivity is for the weak.

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I’m going to try hard to be objective and coherent in this review, but I make no promises because I love this book to a ridiculous degree and it’s hard not to just post, “ZOMG I LOVE IT, READ IT AND TALK ABOUT THE FEEEEEEELS WITH ME.”  But since I really do want people to read this book (and the rest of the series!), I will give coherency a go. Blue Sargent is sixteen years old and the only girl born into her family with […]



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